130 Pounds of WHAT?

I can't believe a month has gone by already!  Thank you all for following along with me on this journey.  It's become a lot more than I anticipated!

I never expected to learn as much as I have this past month.  What started out as a vlog about losing weight became a quest for information about why I can't escape the clutches of unhealthy food.

Many moons ago, I took a Nutrition Course in college from Annmarie Colbin, a brilliant woman who owns a culinary school in Manhattan and has published multiple books about food and nutrition.  She opened my eyes to the disgusting crap that can be found in food.  The education I got on olive oil and fat free condiments alone was worth the price of those credits  (plus she's very funny, which made me love her even more!)

Then I became a health coach after losing weight 3 years ago and learned so much about how our bodies work in regards to what we put in them from Dr. Wayne Anderson (another very witty fella).  I have to admit that my weight gain had NOTHING to do with everything that he taught me.  Had I continued eating like a normal healthy human being, I would still be 33lbs lighter!  

So, imagine my surprise when I started this journey and gained all of this insight on will power and sugar and cravings.  Today, I gained another tiny tidbit that has knocked my socks off and I thought I'd share:  

Oh yes.  Can you see the light more clearly now?  I know I can!  I think that if we consumed 130 pounds of anything slightly addictive in one year we would surely be a slave to it by the time we finished.  

The visual of that much sugar in cube form just sends the message home.  Here's another one for ya:

There are 56 skittles in one regular bag, so that's 31, 570 bags of Skittles

This is the same amount of sugar as found in two 12oz cans of regular soda

200 years ago we were eating 1/17th of the amount of sugar???

I'm just going to let this all settle in.....

xoxoxo,

Vicki

If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did!  You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like.  T'anks peeps!

Practice What I Preach

I'm having a rough few days and the last thing I wanted to do was update my vlog.  I prefer to hide in a bubble during these times.

However, I don't think it's really fair to only post when things are going well.  It's not realistic either.   If nothing else, I'd like to remain genuine during this process, so that means I need to include the good AND the bad.

If you have any words of wisdom, please feel free to share!!!

So, here's my update.....I tried to lighten it up a bit:

If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did!  You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like.  T'anks peeps!

Don't Be Dopey

I can't believe this, but THIS post.... this one right here....  THIS'UN HITHER.... is my 100th post.

Do you know what that means?

That means that there were 100 times that I felt the need to talk to strangers.  Yup.

Because if I know you, you've probably heard a lot of what I've babbled or ranted on and on about.  You probably got it straight from the horse's mouth at one time or another.

I'll have you know that I didn't realize this little 100th Post factoid until after I did my little video, so there will be no celebratory hooplah going on.   In fact, I was so jazzed up about my topic today that I almost didn't write anything here at all.  I was going to just post the video.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm really digging this book I've been reading,  The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal, PhD.  I've never been a "sciency" person, so I was surprised that this book grabbed my attention and held it for so long.  Even mores, I can't believe how excited I am to share and relate to the information.

I've been struggling with my biology for a long time.  In my brain, I can be a size 2 with no problem! But then something sneaky creeps up and pushes me off my path, and I'm left standing there going, WHYYYYY????!!!

I now see that I have to evaluate my ENTIRE self to understand why I keep sabotaging myself.  It's not all physical and it's not all mental.  It's everything.  And I'm a bit uninformed.  But I'm learning!  I'll probably get it all figured out when I'm 93.... or 10 minutes before I get taken out by foliage (because, as I've mentioned, foliage is going to be what causes my demise!)

Today's video is about dopamine.  And manipulation.  And hot pretzels.  And struggle.  And monsters.  And Christmas music.  Oh yeah..... it's got ALL of those things in it.  Prepare yourself!

If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did!  You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like.  T'anks peeps!

What So Funny?

Thursday was completely craptastic in regards to "regular life".  I define Regular Life as everything that happens beyond my control.  Truck breaks down, clients neighbor yells at me for my clients dog's behavior, I step in dog crap, etc.  Just life.

As my incredibly fabulous therapist has trained me to do (nope.....still not sharing his info....he's too valuable and I'm kinda greedy with my sanity maintenance), I "used my humor" to cope with the stressful things going on around me.  It also made me consider that laughter could be handy with getting me through the really tough craving times.  So, I have downloaded my favorite stand up shows to my phone for those moments when sugar starts screaming my name. I'll let you know how that works out.  R&D starts now.

One of my top prerequisites in choosing relationships is a sense of humor. You can only understand how important this quality is when find yourself buckled over, laughing your ass off.... only to look  at the person you're with and see that they haven't even mustered up a smirk.  Utter disappointment.  Relationship O-VAH!

On the flip side, have you ever had a laugh so hard that the person you were with only has to say one word or short phrase, and for the rest of your life the two of you will giggle when you hear it? (Audrey: chiffon!   Craig: Supplies!  Kelly & Rose: CAA. Ron: she turned me into a newt...I got bettah!)   That's totally priceless to me!

That's what my ramblings are about this time.  Please leave recommendations in the comments if you have any!!!  I'm always looking for new stuff!

I had wanted to share one particular clip of Eddie Murphy (Google "Eddie Murphy finding an African wife"), but I try to avoid posting things that might make my mama call me immediately and yell, "I just saw what you posted....You need to take that down immediately!" (And yes, that has happened to me at the ripe old age of 45....and I obeyed)

So, here are some "less-profane" samples of the comedians I mentioned:

Jim Breuer:
This is an older bit, but my favorite story that he tells with an impression....the glorious Dave Chapelle.   I can SEE it in my head:

Kathleen Madigan:
While her stories abou her parents are the best, this is her tearing thru the first five minutes of my recorded favorite show:

Eddie Izzard:
If you can appreciate finding humor in the ridiculousness of religion, this is great:

Chris Rock:
Best PSA ever.

Yours In Laughter,
Vicki

If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did!  You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like.  T'anks peeps!

Three Days of Diet Insanity

That's what it felt like.  Insanity.  Especially with anything that involved me trying to eat (and DRINK) correctly.

I took a few moments each day to record a video, but I couldn't seem to process written words in my brain.  Maybe it was the latte withdrawals.

Regardless of the reason, here I am with three different video reports.  I'm sorry to overwhelm you with my Vickiness, but that's just kinda how it worked out.

Let's start with Day One of Lattelessness.  It was a doozie, but I think I'm officially "off the lattes".  Here we go:

Yesterday was kinda rough.  I wasn't feeling so good about myself for most of the day.  My self image was kinda in the crapper, which had me feeling a bit nervous before trick or treating.  I hate "non-delusional days" when the reality of my situation kicks in.  You'll see what I mean:

And last but certainly not least, here's my post-Halloween report.  I had some interesting research and development (good ole R&D!) findings that I wish someone else would test with me, as well as a little message at the end for my friends who have not been sucked into "the parent vortex".

Hope you all had a nice Halloween, and here's a little giggler that I found on the website of an awesome local author, Heather M. Gardner, who writes fabulous romance novels:

Xoxoxox

If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did!  You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like.  T'anks peeps!